>> a young man's story of sexual assault by fellow athletes at maine west high school. our top story seen around the country tonight on wgn america with his face and voice disguised the hazing victims spoke with wgn. >> he didn't say a word, he didn't see their faces afterwards they acted like nothing happened. >> the ripped my pants down, they tore my boxers, sodomized

me with figures doug my face into the grass like it was nothing. the young man who is now 19 says that he was brutally attacked by a varsity soccer player at maine west high school summer camp in 2007 before he became a freshman then it happened again he said when he got to school in the fall now it's a nightmare he cannot get away from. it's one of the first it is i think of still today. he is a lawsuit with three other athletes to say that the same thing happened to them three of the boys were freshmen on the freshman varsity baseball team he said he was confident that adults knew about the alleged assault and even condoned it including his soccer coach. i would see my coach under link

before or after it happened. the school board voted in december to fire him he still has time to request a hearing dozens of parents and students went to the meeting even though he did not attend. john doe the teenager who loved soccer more than anything quit the team in 2007 and has never played again. the pain is too deep. i lost it all i lost all of my motivation i would walk out of the house because i was embarrassed. he says many others have gone for the same if not similar experience that he did because his bravery and school districts across the area are very closely looking at their hazing policies to make sure that this does not ever happen again.

prosecutors say that he was robbing seven banks when he escaped police custody back in 2009 it triggered a man on in the northwest suburbs he is also accused of friend to kidnap a woman that he carjacked he said she was afraid but it was almost comical he didn't know how to use a car remote and she had to help him steal her car. wait a minute hold on which one is the party and how does this work? i knew he wasn't going to kill me at this point so i got annoyed really? i took the car key off i handed him the key i opened the door for him and i said here. it's still not clear how he managed to escape from custody one of the officers' guns he grabbed at the last minute. the

measure quality act passes the samewith an 8-5 vote and it goes to the senate floor. the cook county clerk david or today issued a statement about the redsthe legislation and he says: illinois senator mark kirk returns to washington after suffering a major stroke one year ago he makes a dramatic climb up the senate stairs with the help of his colleagues, we have the latest from the nation's capital. he hasn't been seen here in 12 months today the junior senator from illinois was welcomed back to work with grander applause and great warmth on a cold washington de vice-president biden on his right and senator dick durbin close by with the help of the cain and the encouragement of

fellow members of congress mark kirk made the climb. it's just such a wonderful moment. hundreds of people out there cheering him as he came up the steps. i think he needs the on going encouragement of his constituency and his colleagues and we will be there for him. there for him they were including a tami duckworth who herself knows the meaning of meeting a physical challenge she lost her leg as an army pilot. senators and congressman from coast to coast filled the senate steps all of them busy during the holidays with the the fiscal cliff hanging in the balance still the maytime today stops and starts and long pauses but he pressed on his goal simply to reach the top. chicago

doctors and physical therapy teams were present to over the past 12 months they know better than anyone the struggle both mental and physical what he has has to wonder. if you work really really hard and when you want to quit these guys do not let you that's when you make the kind of recovery that he did. we really train them as hard as we can. 53 year-old mark kirk is expected to continue even for years but it may ebb and flow from time to time his doctors say that he can handle it and as for getting around this enormous building behind me he will likely use a wheelchair while he continues to work on his walking. it's being called the do nothing congress and now another group of lawmakers will take over. under the leadership of john boener, nancy pelosi,

harry reid and mitch mcconnell the do nothing congress will go down in history as one of the least productive compared to 383 build passed during previous sessions of congress and 460 bills during the congress before that many political analysts say the 112 congress will be forever known as worthless and incompetent making no real progress on important issues such as immigration, tax reform or a four superstar sandy victims looking to the 113th congress house speaker john boener nearly won reelection 12 of the most conservative republicans in the house defected. it was the closest any speaker had come to losing since new gingrich back in 1997. but this congress has more women and

latinos than ever before. illinois is sending six freshmen to congress this year, five democrats and one republican notables include tami duckworth who defeated joe walsh and bill foster rodney davis from taylor is the only republican freshman from illinois. coming soon it will have to consider raising the nation's debt ceiling again and there is a looming fight over gun control which recently became a high priority for the white house after the massacre in newtown connecticut the polls show only a small percentage of americans approve of the job congress is doing. the average age for u.s. senators to 62.

house bill #6258 which addresses the problem may not be perfect and it may be challenged in court but it deserves to be embraced and acted on now. we cannot kick the can down the road in the longer because we are out of road, we will go off the road and then no one knows what is going to happen this legislation house bill 6258 would have the safe pension system 100 percent funded in 20 years, by the year 2043. still

ahead, three months after threatening to burn his family of man allegedly makes good on his threats tonight investigators want to know if the tragedy could have been prevented and mayor emanuel joins community leaders and family members to call for stronger gun control laws. the wake-up call, new information about sleeping behind the wheel.

the cook county state's attorney it ordered a review into how a man with a record of domestic violence was able to get his girlfriend and set her her two kids and himself on fire but there were one of the killed in the other child is badly burned. the details are eerily similar naething o barricaded this time inside a cicero apartment at 4998 west 114th street threatening to burn down everything including his terrified son and daughter police records from the terrifying september 9th afternoon show that there was a bathtub full of gasoline in the

apartment and he was threatening to lighted on fire but no felony charges after cicero police managed to negotiate the release of his children taking the mentally ill man into custody given what happened three months later in chicago letting his entire family on fire in his mother's lawndale apartment professionals who shelter battered women say they can hardly believe it. i'm surprised that they didn't charge him he was taken into custody police records show but when the girlfriend refused to sign a criminal complaint against nathaniel prosecutors with the state attorney decided against felony charges. anita alvarez says " if individuals in this

office need to be held accountable for their judgment that will certainly occur. the police superintendent turning down our request for an interview tonight but a spokesperson says that police did everything they could to take him off of the streets of pushing for felony charges to no avail he was charged with misdemeanor charges chicago police are searching for two gunmen after a gage park businessman was shot and killed during a robbery attempt the 57 year-old was shot and a muffler shop last night he is the fifth homicide victim in chicago in the new year the gunman entered the shop demanding money his wife and children talked about how good he was with customers.

two other employees were not injured the suspects are believed to be in their late teens one was wearing a light blue windbreaker with a black stocking cap. you will recall joseph banks was the convict to used bed sheets to get out of prison he already faces a maximum of 80 years for holding up to banks. an alert to downtown customers sees maybe stealing your cellphone.

>> when you have your cellphone sitting right in front of you the last thing you think of is someone stealing it but that's exactly what they are warning

tonight fees have been hitting several fast-food restaurants looking for people who have their phones sitting right out on the table. since new year's chicago police say there have been four reported cellphone sets in downtown a group of young men have hit fast food restaurants like chipotle mcdonald's in divinize starbucks each time they have the same m zero. they pretend to be soliciting funds for their basketball organization, they had their victims a flier about the fate fund-raising efforts then they take their phone when they are not looking. when you are typically out to dinner or lunch do you ever think about that happening? >> never. so how do you protect yourself from this kind of

crime? police say it's pretty simple. keep your phone in your parked it,pockets, ladies be aware of hanging your purse off of chairs. i will definitely think about not putting it up on the table or in someone else's reach. police believe that there are about three-four young men involved in this death rang all between the ages of 14-45 years old they were all seen getting into a tent four-door sedan a buick stiles a day and. if you know anything about the individuals you are asked to call chicago police. it's certainly something the chicago police department says they're looking into back in september

there were several phone sets, four people were arrested back at that time in connection with those cases and now police are trying to see if those four individuals are still in custody or what their status is. to see if there is any connection here. coming up in the medical watch a growing problem on the road more and more drowsy drivers getting behind the wheel. and the alleged crook who picked the wrong house to burglarize.

jim howe and aggressive in deadly form of skin cancer spreads in the body they found one gene that promotes the growth of new blood vessels called angiogenesis they

multiplied in travel to other parts of the body scientists are targeting this gene to treat melanoma and other forms of cancer a gene is connected to the dopamine system responsible for firing signals across neurons in the brain which plays a major role in attention and reward driven learning carriers of the longevity gene appear to be involved in more social intellectual and physical activities. one in 24 u.s. adults say they recently fell asleep driving health officials think the real number is much higher the telephone survey of thousands of adults found that drowsy driving was more common in many people's aged 25-34 and for people who average less than six hours of sleep per night.

coming up in frigid weather today warmer weather tomorrow. jim ramsey says the wind will make it feel much much colder.

people really love snapshot from progressive but don't just listen to me. listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. with snapshot, i knew what i could save before i switched to progressive. the better i drive the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. you're not filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today. you only know, in a fire to get out, to escape, and now, okay, you're outside and you're safe, but what do you do now? and that's where the red cross came in. we ran out of the house just wearing our pajamas. at that point, just to even have a toothbrush that i could call my own was so important you know, it just makes you feel like a person again.

this is america. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. 7,000 students drop out every school day. that's one ever 26 seconds. it's time that student know that we believe in them. announcer: inspire a student and share your message of support at boostup.org.

>> we did have a little snow earlier today. it only amounted to a trace. and el paso texas picked up to and a half inches of snow today which is more than chicago has had the entire season so far were only up to nine tenths of an inch. look at the clouds those snow showers move across the area from place to place and it just did not accumulates. high temperatures today we made it up to 29 degrees which is two degrees below the normal but notice the cold air spilling down into west texas and parts of southern new mexico right now as you can see the temperature at o'hare is 21 degrees at the moment producing a wind chill of just nine degrees look at the numbers across the rest of the area

notice it is in the teens in some of so far western locations low 20s in northwestern indiana tonight we will probably not see temperatures drop much below the current levels. temperatures slightly warmer than they were today but as we move through time notice what happens by this time next week a week from tomorrow we expect another surge of colder here are the wind patterns across the area notice everybody getting fairly breezy conditions this evening which is producing wind chill values that are in the single digits in front of us arethe far western suburbs, very chilly up there it

looks like chicago will see gusts between 30-40 mi. tomorrow. rather breezy conditions expected. now take a look at this that pink area is actually a winter storm warning surrounded by winter weather advisories as the snow continues to fall in that area also we're getting snow reports out of western new york state like effect snow up there. meanwhile, in chicago the clotting as has been eroding steadily so we actually have clear skies out there but i mentioned to western new york state specifically lake ontario and just on the north edge of lake erie. it looks like for

chicago it will be quiet once we get these clubs out of the way until we get into the weekend where there is another chance of maybe a little precipitation. as we head towards the weekend that could be snow producing cloudiness you see. no accumulation of consequence expected. low temperature 18-23. then for tomorrow, partly cloudy, winds will pick up. on saturday clouds will increase and that is going to produce some late in the day snow

showers temperatures still expected to be in the '30's as we go into the weekend but not a great day with this snow coming. this again is not expected to be an accumulating snow just a series of snow showers perhaps moving through the area late saturday. there have actually been some revisions to the seventh day but i have some revisions to show you. an emotional day for survivors of sandy hook elementary shooting students and teachers return to class for the first time since their rain date and what you may have to wait awhile to get your income tax refund this year. this

is america. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. the community of newtown connecticut takes another significant step as they tried to heal from the shooting rampage at tomorrow former congresswoman gabby giffords will visit the site of the shooting to the students who attended the school attended the hearing. the bus ride to school for sandy hook students is now 6 mi. longer than but this is an

important part of the journey. it is a healing shelf so it is supposed to heal us. she heard the gunshots on the school was changed forever the fourth graders return to school this morning. getting them on the bus for us is moving forward now it's getting back to retain so they get back to that normalcy and start learning again. the road to the new sandy hook elementary school is aligned with signs welcoming the children. most of the kids were excited they had seen friends that they hadn't seen in a while. today was their first day it all together again after 20 of the fellow classmates and six administrators were killed in the shooting. most of the students did come by bus most

of the bosses were full police lt. keith white spoke to paris this morning answering questions about security and safety. we want to know that this is a school in the school first where they can come grow up and be with their friends. there is no real playbook for this i know think any of us have a playbook we are sensing our child and trying to meet the needs that we can administrators wanted to make today's schedule just like any other school day as they continue to go to a place where students can give back to the get back to the business of just being kids. >> it is being called a cold and faultless act angry after they

received invitations to see free movies were 12 people were gunned down prosecutors say that james holmes gun down 12 people last summer in or colorado the theater has been rehabed and it will reopen january 18th to relatives of the victims say they don't care they don't want to be in the theater where someone they love died. that is a blatant lack of respect for the families they are looking to boost their own ticket sales. many people agree that the event is in poor taste some are even organizing a boycott of the event better control is what the mayor says will help fight violence with guns in chicago. we need to make sure the next 72 or 48 hours that they remember why they're there. it is not for

politics, it is for public safety it's a public service. mayor emanuel once the laws to restrict assault weapons. more rallies are planned. secretary of state hilary clinton plans to return to work next week following her release from the hospital yesterday she has been resting at home after being treated for a blood clot behind her right ear she is on blood thinners doctors expect her to make a full recovery, the state departments and she has been working from home and breaking news from venezuela tonight where after months of rumors and confusion about the health of hugo chavez it is not looking good. president chavez was near death tonight but is willis information administrator says he is battling a severe lung infection he has not been seen

publicly since three weeks ago in havana. later in sports the latest name to surface in the bears' coaching search and the teams who are interested in talking to levy nexium, the purple pill, helps provide many with day and night relief of heartburn symptoms caused by acid reflux disease. there is risk of bone fracture and low magnesium levels.

side effects may include headache abdominal pain, and diarrhea. call your doctor right away if you have persistent diarrhea. other serious stomach conditions may exist. don't take nexium if you take clopidogrel. ask your doctor if nexium, the purple pill, is right for you. find out how to save on nexium at purplepill.com.

this is america. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

a group of undocumented students urging lawmakers in the house to pass legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers' licenses asking voters to contact their state representatives the measure has already passed in the senate and governor queen indicated he would sign it if it reached his desk. tony preckwinkle also said that she hopes that the licenses approved to ensure that all drivers will only make the roads safer for everyone. if you look

at 81044 there are several lines that are tied to special provisions the irs put out this statement they are currently reviewing the details of this past legislation and assessing what impact it will have the irs says that will send out new information soon that will help people understand when it will get their refund. starbucks wants to help you kick the habit throwing away old paper cups. the new eco from eyecups looks similar to the paper version but they cost $1, wedding bells just around the corner for a local financial whiz into one of the biggest hollywood filmmakers of all time 68 year-old george lucas created star wars and now using cage to melete hobson who is 43 years

old and a leader of ariel capital management. jim ramsey is in the weather center. we have very intelligent viewers out there, very nice to work with you wore cloudiness is beginning to erode in fact it is drifting out of chicago so this evening we expect mostly clear skies certainly nothing that would produce any more snow flurries as we saw earlier today in fact this snow forecast shows a little something on the other side of lake michigan down through parts of southwestern lower michigan and even north-

central indiana to pick up maybe a 10th of an inch but it will be a dry night here in the chicago area. as for the next seven days with temperatures dropping to 29 by a high temperature for sunday the weekends are generally ok if you are going outside but there will be passing snow showers saturday laid in the day we have an iffy wednesday forecast to models are actually conflicting over the scenarios we expect for the moment we will keep it optimistic but there will be rain coming in on thursday. an ohio man is in jail after he was caught on video mocking his

handicap to neighbor, 43 year- old bill bailey was seen walking near the family's home in canton. the families have had a longstanding feud above bailey claims he was limping because of a work injury. she is a good kid she gets right out there and gets it. in court to billy issued a written apology to the girl and her family and his sentencing in november.

a unique piece of ryder cup history will be put up for auction. the goal for almost missed his tee time because he apparently confused eastern and central time zones. the europeans beat the americans on the final day of the competition so the car will be offered in an online auction later this month. coming up despite a perfect 12 and zero season it certainly wasn't an easy road for the championship games in notre dame. why the wolverines are currently ranked second in thyoou

time for sports and notre dame and a full preparation mode. we have been working inside you

know it's going to be more than 40 days between football games for notre dame and for alabama more than one month so there's no question that these two teams are ready to play some football and they will monday night for the national championship both teams revel in football related activities in the earlier they reflected on how they got here. every team in america wants to be playing monday night a handful actually have a chance but notre dame and alabama survived and oddly enough the season turned for alabama was a defeat their only one in the season for texas a&m. i think that helped us be where we are today. we have to come to work every day and do the things that got us here and we work hard and that's why we are better than

people. most of the irish players took a goal line stand against stanford was a special moment. we have always believed that we can be in a couple of those spots. at notre dame the term faith has a different meaning than at most schools and to think about what has happened to the irish in this undefeated season you cannot blame them if they feel something very special is going on here. when they miss that field goal union something special was bound to happen i

wouldn't say it was luck but certainly got had a hand in that. we build off of that and we believe as a team that we were going to go somewhere special. there is no team in america that has more prayers said on its behalf the notre dame monday night we will see if we have permission to interview green bay's offensive coordinator tom clements who has been mentioned as a bears fan today and other times in the past. it looks like lovey is going to land on his feet after leaving chicago. pat fitzgerald

showing off the gator bowl trophy in north western's home game against the michigan wolverines that was your highlight if you are in northwestern fan because michigan did it all tonight. tim jr. made it 30-13 in the first half and then later on at the first half it possible big 10 player of the year killer crossover to make it 51-30 the second half glenn robinson in the third just showing off your eight little starter step and he won. 14 and 0 on the season. national hockey league labor situation still ongoing we will see how that plays out tomorrow they have about a week left before they have to shut down this season and congratulations to our good friend bill jackson

who on christmas day became engaged to his longtime girlfriend. that will do it in sports. that's the news for this thursday night. have a good night. don't miss the kmart home sale. up to 40% off all bed and bath. this week only. at kmart.